Political pundits keep referring to our current situation as "polarized". Usually after some bill they favor is defeated in Congress. But is "polarized" the right word?
In electronics (my old day job) a part was "polarized" if it only went into the circuit one way round. When a polarized part was inserted backward bad things happened, up to and including fire and explosion. By analogy, taking the word from the electronics world to the pundit world, a "polarized" Congress ought to mean a Congress all pointed in the same direction. Like wise for an electorate.
In real life, the Congress and the electorate are split, 50-50 on a lot of important issues (president to elect, taxes, spending, wedge issues). When the pundits wail about nothing getting done, it because neither side has the votes to ram their policy down the throats of the other side.
"Divided" is a better description of the current state of affairs than "polarized".
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